Galey’s Blog – Part 2
For my second blog I am going to talk about the physical demands of cricket. In the last five years I have seen a massive switch in the attitudes of the players towards physical training for cricket. I hear some of our coaches talk about the days when there was pints of bitter on the tables at lunch, and players would eat full roast dinners for dinner followed by 7 or 8 pints down the local after a day’s play, unfortunately those days have well and truly vanished in the current era of professional cricket.
You only have to look at the recent ashes series to see how fit the players were. At Yorkshire, players report back for training right back at the start of November where they will train 4 times a week up to Christmas, and then go to 5 sessions a week after Christmas. Players are fitness tested with a bleep test, weights tests, agility tests and body fat tests, and then individua physical trainingl programs will be given out to tailor to the individuals needs. They will be pushed physically to their limits so that when they come to work on their skills they are physically prepared to the best they can be.
So what sort of training do we do?
There is a large variety of training that go through all year round, and there are lots of different areas that you need to train to help your cricket, but here are a few that I would recommend:-
Agility
When you field you are constantly moving in different directions so quick feet is essential to get to the ball fast. Side to side drills are good to improve agility. Put a cone 5 yards in front of you, one 5 yards to your left and one 5 yards to your right, then try to move to each cone as fast as you can returning back to the start after touching each cone.
Speed
Speed is also essential, you use it fielding, between the wickets and also in your run up whilst bowling (if you’re a fast bowler). To improve speed we use resistance bands. Try putting 2 resistance bands around your waist with another person holding them at the back of you. Then when you start to run it should feel like you are running through water. Do a number of these and when you take the bands away you will feel you are running quicker in a short space of time. This type of drill will improve the fast twitch muscle fibres that make up your muscles.
Strength
The main reason we build strength is for injury prevention, but strength can also help with speed and agility. One way to improve your strength is to use your body weight as resistance. Press ups, sit ups, chin ups, lunges, squats etc. all help you build strength and make you aware of the way your body works. Also, lifting heavier weights with a low number of reps can help build strength but obviously the timing of these sessions must be thought about as it can leave you very stiff and fatigued.
Endurance
Endurance plays a massive part in cricket. As we have seen from the recent Ashes series, Alistair Cook batted for a stupid amount of time and showed that his endurance and concentration were very good. I once heard a saying that said ‘the fitter you are, the fresher the mind’ and I believe that to be very true. To train your endurance, long distance runs are good but also hill sprint training and shuttles can be just as effective.
All in all, cricket is a game that is fast moving and if you want to be the best player in your team or desire to play professional cricket then you have to be fit. Fitness will not come over night; it is something that needs planning and should be done over a long period of time. For more information on how you can improve your fitness for cricket, or coaching opportunities around the country contact enquiries@procoachcricketacademy.com or click here for more details.
Good luck Pro Coachers!!
Galey
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Galeys Blog - Part 1
Galey’s Blog - Part 1
Having been approached by Pro Coach Cricket Academy about putting a blog together about my tour in the West Indies with the England Lions, I thought that this could be a great opportunity for the young aspiring next generation of England cricketers to pick a few tips up from the things I do and think about on tour.
The first thing I would like to write about is preparation. Young cricketers often turn up for county/district/club nets and just run up and bowl, or pick up a bat and have a net, but what preparation goes into a long tour like this? What is the best way to improve and prepare yourself for that big game?
The first time I thought about preparation for this tour is when I first found out I was selected. My first thoughts are usually, what will the pitches be like? What will the opposition be like? How do I need to adapt my own game to the playing conditions in the West Indies? After the first initial thoughts I then begin to write down some ideas of the things I have mentioned above. I know that the West Indian pitches are generally slow, tacky and spin, so begin to write down areas in which I may need to work on. How can I dominate the bowlers on this style of pitch?
Our preparation as a squad started at Loughborough where our first few days focus on physical fitness. Our bodies are put through their paces to find out if we have come back from Christmas in good shape, and haven’t eaten too many mince pies! We compete in the yo-yo test, sprint tests, vertical jump tests, body composition tests and weight conditioning tests. It all sounds very complicated but physical fitness is a massive part of the modern day cricketer. We are given advice on diet and the best ways to train individually to get your body is the best possible shape for the tour. We then start to work on the cricket specific areas which we think we are going to need as a unit to be successful in the Caribbean.
As I mentioned earlier the pitches over here can be tacky and the abrasive so reverse swing will play a major part. I set the bowling machine up and work on the ball swinging both ways. Two main areas in batting are balance and alignment, and if these are not good against reverse swing then you will be found out fast.
As a young player how can you work on balance and alignment?
One simple thing to do to make sure your balance is good is to make sure your head is going back in to the ball, a lot of young players fall over their front leg and so cut across their front pad and end up playing with only half a bat against the swinging ball which can play a part in getting out LBW. Simple things to work on are drop feeding a tennis ball and hitting the ball straight and see if you are balanced after you hit the ball, if you move then this shows you aren’t balanced. You must also try to move as late as possible against the swinging ball, if you commit to the line of the ball too early and the ball swings then you are also going to get into trouble. I would always recommend that you put swing on the ball when batting on the bowling machine, because this will constantly challenge your balance, alignment and overall technique.
Alignment means that your feet, hips and shoulders are facing side on towards the direction in which you want to hit the ball unless you are playing a cross bat shot. Again simple drop feed drills can help give you an indication of your alignment. Keeping your shoulders side on to where you want to hit the ball is key when driving so give yourself a rating every time you play a shot. You can then progress on to under arm feeds and eventually on to a bowling machine. It can sometimes be tedious hitting loads of drop feed tennis balls but you must nail the basics, if you can’t get your alignment right when a ball is dropped in front of you, how are you going to get it right when it is coming down at 60/70/80mph?
The next area I worked on is batting against spin and how you can go about trying to dominate spin bowling on turning pitches.
The main thing to think about when a spinner comes on is where and how you can dominate the spinner. I am a big believer that you should always look to dominate spin from the first ball but that doesn’t mean slogging, you can also dominate in defence. You must have a clear and logical game plan of where your scoring areas are. If it’s a slow, low pitch then sweeping may be a good option, but if it’s a pitch that has indifferent bounce then sweeping may be your last option and you may look to go straight down the ground. You must look to assess the conditions as fast as you can and find out which shots the pitch will allow you to play and then formulate a game plan to play them.
Overall the biggest bit of advice I can give a young player about preparation is; be prepared to put the time and effort in to your sessions. Nobody in the world can hit half a dozen balls and go out and score thousands of runs, not even Sachin Tendulker. The best players I have played with practice with purpose, often and for long periods of time, so if you want to be the next Alistair Cook or the next Ian Bell then high quality practice really does make perfect!
Geoffrey Boycott once gave me a quote that Gary Player (golfing legend) used that has always stuck in my head.
“The more I practice the luckier I get”
To make a start on your training today, or even just get some extra practive in, click here, and see if there are urrently any cricket coaching courses near you. Keep working hard
Galey
Having been approached by Pro Coach Cricket Academy about putting a blog together about my tour in the West Indies with the England Lions, I thought that this could be a great opportunity for the young aspiring next generation of England cricketers to pick a few tips up from the things I do and think about on tour.
The first thing I would like to write about is preparation. Young cricketers often turn up for county/district/club nets and just run up and bowl, or pick up a bat and have a net, but what preparation goes into a long tour like this? What is the best way to improve and prepare yourself for that big game?
The first time I thought about preparation for this tour is when I first found out I was selected. My first thoughts are usually, what will the pitches be like? What will the opposition be like? How do I need to adapt my own game to the playing conditions in the West Indies? After the first initial thoughts I then begin to write down some ideas of the things I have mentioned above. I know that the West Indian pitches are generally slow, tacky and spin, so begin to write down areas in which I may need to work on. How can I dominate the bowlers on this style of pitch?
Our preparation as a squad started at Loughborough where our first few days focus on physical fitness. Our bodies are put through their paces to find out if we have come back from Christmas in good shape, and haven’t eaten too many mince pies! We compete in the yo-yo test, sprint tests, vertical jump tests, body composition tests and weight conditioning tests. It all sounds very complicated but physical fitness is a massive part of the modern day cricketer. We are given advice on diet and the best ways to train individually to get your body is the best possible shape for the tour. We then start to work on the cricket specific areas which we think we are going to need as a unit to be successful in the Caribbean.
As I mentioned earlier the pitches over here can be tacky and the abrasive so reverse swing will play a major part. I set the bowling machine up and work on the ball swinging both ways. Two main areas in batting are balance and alignment, and if these are not good against reverse swing then you will be found out fast.
As a young player how can you work on balance and alignment?
One simple thing to do to make sure your balance is good is to make sure your head is going back in to the ball, a lot of young players fall over their front leg and so cut across their front pad and end up playing with only half a bat against the swinging ball which can play a part in getting out LBW. Simple things to work on are drop feeding a tennis ball and hitting the ball straight and see if you are balanced after you hit the ball, if you move then this shows you aren’t balanced. You must also try to move as late as possible against the swinging ball, if you commit to the line of the ball too early and the ball swings then you are also going to get into trouble. I would always recommend that you put swing on the ball when batting on the bowling machine, because this will constantly challenge your balance, alignment and overall technique.
Alignment means that your feet, hips and shoulders are facing side on towards the direction in which you want to hit the ball unless you are playing a cross bat shot. Again simple drop feed drills can help give you an indication of your alignment. Keeping your shoulders side on to where you want to hit the ball is key when driving so give yourself a rating every time you play a shot. You can then progress on to under arm feeds and eventually on to a bowling machine. It can sometimes be tedious hitting loads of drop feed tennis balls but you must nail the basics, if you can’t get your alignment right when a ball is dropped in front of you, how are you going to get it right when it is coming down at 60/70/80mph?
The next area I worked on is batting against spin and how you can go about trying to dominate spin bowling on turning pitches.
The main thing to think about when a spinner comes on is where and how you can dominate the spinner. I am a big believer that you should always look to dominate spin from the first ball but that doesn’t mean slogging, you can also dominate in defence. You must have a clear and logical game plan of where your scoring areas are. If it’s a slow, low pitch then sweeping may be a good option, but if it’s a pitch that has indifferent bounce then sweeping may be your last option and you may look to go straight down the ground. You must look to assess the conditions as fast as you can and find out which shots the pitch will allow you to play and then formulate a game plan to play them.
Overall the biggest bit of advice I can give a young player about preparation is; be prepared to put the time and effort in to your sessions. Nobody in the world can hit half a dozen balls and go out and score thousands of runs, not even Sachin Tendulker. The best players I have played with practice with purpose, often and for long periods of time, so if you want to be the next Alistair Cook or the next Ian Bell then high quality practice really does make perfect!
Geoffrey Boycott once gave me a quote that Gary Player (golfing legend) used that has always stuck in my head.
“The more I practice the luckier I get”
To make a start on your training today, or even just get some extra practive in, click here, and see if there are urrently any cricket coaching courses near you. Keep working hard
Galey
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Andrew Gales Blog - On tour with the England Performance Squad
Andrews first blog will be following shortly so look out for some great info coming soon!!
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